Trinkat is a low, flat island about five miles long and one wide, separated from Kamorta by the narrow strait in which we anchored. This is much choked with coral-reefs, on which every now and then the sea breaks unexpectedly in low waves which run along their edges throwing up clouds of spray. Several villages, fronted by rows of streamer-decorated poles, were in sight on the western shores, and further up the channel a junk from Penang was anchored, the first we had seen. The island is nowhere higher than 80 or 90 feet, and is superficially of limestone formation--raised coral: the shores are fringed with jungle and coco palms, while the latter are frequent also in the patches of jungle occurring in the interior,[32] which, however, consists mainly of open undulating grassy land. We landed, after crossing the reef, near a couple of huts, built of palm leaves and rough planks, that seemed deserted. A great number of pigs were roaming about in company with dogs, fowls, and a cat. The huts were surrounded for some distance by palm trees growing in thick scrub undergrowth. A little way along a path we arrived at a small _jheel_, on which were a diver and several whistling teal. Birds were numerous amongst the trees, where parrots (_P. erythrogenys_) and pigeons dwelt in flocks, and on the ground megapodes ran about calling to each other, but were too well concealed, by the tall grass and bushes that grew everywhere, for successful collecting. We got here the Nicobar fly-catcher, in plumage of dark chestnut, with steely-black head, and _Geocichla albigularis_, a pretty grey, olive and cinnamon thrush, a shy bird that kept down on the ground or hid itself in low bushes. Out in the open, amongst the grass, we found numbers of small warblers (_Cisticola cisticola_), an occasional snipe or two, and flocks of little button-quail (_Excalfactoria_(?), sp. nov.), while a herd of about fifty semi-wild cattle roamed about, most of them descendants of a number turned out here in '88, when the settlement at Nankauri was given up. They suffer but little loss in numbers at the hands of the natives, for the Government allows no guns in the islands, and it is only very occasionally that a number of men will combine and slaughter a beast with spears. From the interior the scene was very beautiful; rolling grassy downs were dotted with numerous dwarf pandanus trees (_P. furcatus_), amongst which the cattle, black, white, and brown, moved slowly. All around was thick jungle, through breaks in which the sea was visible on either hand, and in the west, the sun, shining from behind a dark cloud, painted the hills and harbour of Nankauri in tones of grey and gold. The photographs which I took of this scenery were spoilt, thanks to a liberty taken by the too inquisitive Chinese "boy," who privately satisfied his curiosity as to the appearance of the plates before they had been removed from the slides and developed.